A heckling radio ham known as the Filipino Monkey, who has spent years pestering ships in the Persian Gulf, is being blamed today for sparking a major diplomatic row after American warships almost attacked Iranian patrol boats.

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Senior navy officials have admitted that the source of the threats, picked up in international waters, was a mystery.

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Rick Hoffman, a retired captain, told the paper: "For 25 years, there's been this mythical guy out there who, hour after hour, shouts obscenities and threats. He used to go all night long. The guy is crazy.

While serving on on a frigate in the mid 1990s in UK waters you used to hear him all night via the radio on the bridge. It used to get very annoying. It would be nice and dark and quiet and suddenly you would suddenly hear: "Fiiiiiiiiiiiilipino monkeeeee!"

I came home from GW1 bringing home nasties and bangs on a MoD chartered civvie vessel as the sole Brit Officer to sign papers in the Suez Canal and do daily ship to shore calls to the head shed. I do remember hearing Filipino Monkey all the way from Saudi and thru' the straights of Hormuz and all the way to Gib. Spent many a night on the bridge smiling and listening to un PC RT Chat from him. I thought it was just a bored oiler or AB somewhere in our formation. Jeepers brings back memories.